About SFF

Our Mission:

The Sustainable Fisheries Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection, enhancement, and wise use of fisheries resources and their habitats. Our mission is to promote a balanced approach to fisheries management – one based on sound ecological and economic principles – to ensure that fish populations, and the ecosystems they depend on, remain viable, productive, and accessible to future generations.

More About the Sustainable Fisheries Foundation

The Sustainable Fisheries Foundation (SFF) is a non-profit organization that was formed in 1995. SFF is a registered charitable organization in Canada and a 501(c)3 organization in the United States.

SFF is dedicated to the protection, enhancement, and wise use of the world’s fisheries resources, especially of the Pacific Northwest. We promote science-based management of fish and their aquatic and marine habitats through building partnerships with individuals, communities, agencies, tribes, and first nations. SFF is involved in a number of projects and programs in support of our mission.

Consistent with our mission, SFF originally focused on the development of a Sustainable Fisheries Strategy (SFS) for west coast salmon and steelhead populations. The SFS was developed collaboratively by a large number of concerned citizens representing over 150 Participating Organizations, as well as many sponsors.
The SFS provides a long-term vision for the future of salmon and steelhead, identifies the factors that are currently constraining our ability to realize this goal, and includes a series of practical recommendations for overcoming these constraints and moving toward sustainable fisheries and watershed management. The SFS emphasizes an ecosystem-based approach to managing human activities and, in so doing, facilitates the restoration of salmon and steelhead populations throughout the Northwest, from California to Alaska.

With the completion of the SFS and related initiatives, the Foundation is now focused on facilitating the implementation of the SFS. As community-based fisheries management has been identified as a critical element of the SFS, disseminating guidance on ecosystem-based fisheries and watershed management to community-based organizations is a central component of our strategic action plan.

The Foundation has two offices, one in Nanaimo, BC and the other in Snohomish, WA. The Foundation’s activities in Canada are coordinated by an Executive Director (Don MacDonald), Secretary/Treasurer (Mary Lou Haines) and a Program Coordinator (Yvonne Muirhead). The American office is made up of an Executive Director (Cleveland Steward), Research Program Director (Eric Knudsen) and Secretary (Candi Lamont). The Foundation relies on its Advisory Board and its Steering Committee to identify priorities and to assist in the implementation of specific projects that are undertaken.

The Foundation is a grassroots-based organization that seeks to build consensus recommendations to support the conservation and recovery of Pacific Salmon and Steelhead populations. Everyone with an interest in the future of this priceless resource is encouraged to participate in this process. Please contact the Foundation if you are interested in supporting this important program.